In 1998 Paul Morrell became senior partner and took the business onto a new level. Not only did he raise the bar and make every part of the business strive for improvement, he also expanded our largely public sector and architect-led client base into the commercial sector, turning us into the premier practice for office buildings. It was also on his watch that we began our transformation into a multidisciplinary project and cost consultancy – by the rapid development of our project management service and by broadening our offer through highly effective mergers with specialist market leaders.

The first of these came in 1999, with the leading engineering services specialists Mott Green Wall. In 2000, Schumann Smith added their dominance of the specification consultancy market to our business. In 2001, Crosher & James, the leading capital allowances advisors, became our Property Tax & Finance arm. Also in 2001, Stockings & Clark joined the partnership, introducing a new sector focus on the food industry.